The present invention relates generally to an automatic call distributor for connecting incoming telephone calls to selected ones of a plurality of agents and, more particularly, to an automatic call distributor having multiple audio sources to provide different types of audio communications, such as messages and music, to the incoming telephone call based on the gate to which the telephone call is directed. The present invention further comprises a method for providing a variety of different types of audio communications to incoming telephone calls in an automatic call distributor.
Automatic call distributors are well known and widely used by businesses to route incoming telephone calls to appropriate agents. Such businesses may service a variety of customers having different needs. For example, a mail order company may receive orders from French-speaking customers in Canada, English-speaking customers in the United States and Spanish-speaking customers in Mexico. To properly service these customers, the mail order business must have French, English and Spanish speaking agents to receive the orders and to answer any inquiries. Typically, the mail order business will have an eight hundred (800) number designated for each of the three languages. The automatic call distributor used by the mail order business then routes calls to the agents based on the 800 number dialed by the customer.
If all of the agents are unavailable for a certain 800 number, the automatic call distributor may place a customer in queue until an appropriate agent becomes available. While in queue, or on hold, messages or music may be played for the customer. Unfortunately, current automatic call distributors do not match message or music type to the characteristics of the customer, such as the language spoken by the customer.
Accordingly, a need exists for an automatic call distributor having multiple music sources which provide different types of audio communications, such as messages and music, to incoming telephone calls based on the characteristics of the incoming telephone callers and for a method of providing different types of messages and music to such callers.